Howdy my Friends! I know I have been away a long time. First I must say: Thank You to everyone that donated to Hikestrong this year. Together with the other hikers we raised $11,000 and every penny went to the Livestrong foundation to benefit cancer research. This was the first time I ever hiked for a cause.. it felt good!Anyhow I have hiked the Pacific Crest Trail 2,665 miles, the Continental Divide Trail 2,800 miles so that means one thing.. I MUST hike the Appalachian trail 2,175 miles to complete the Triple Crown of long Distance Hiking. I will hike the AT beginning this March! The triple crown in Three Years! Why not? I thought Y'all might find my gearlist interesting. Most of the stuff is the same gear i have used for the last 5,600 miles but I have made a few changes for the upcoming AT hike. I am a devout ultralight freak (DUF?). Anyhow it has been as much of a journey figuring out the successful strategies that enable me to carry a light pack. I definitely am not saying I have found the "best" way or even a "better" way.. just the way that works for me. But I still thought it might be entertaining for y'all to see what knuckleheads like myself and a lot of ultralight thru-hikers carry. The following gear list represents what I have learned works for me under mainly summer time conditions, hiking continuously for 4 months. There is a definite strategy involved in this style of hiking. The compromise between safety and light weight being the most important consideration and one that can only be made be the individual.

4 Shelter/Raingear- GoLite Chrome Dome Trekking Umbrella 8.0 5 Insulation Layer- Patagonia Down Sweater 12.0 6 Insulation layer- Smartwool light weight wool long underwear bottoms 6.0 7 Raingear- Outdoor Products Backpacker Rain Poncho 11.0 8 Insulation layer- Turtle Fur Light Fleece Hat 1.5 9 Shelter- Tyvek Ground Sheet 4.0 10 Insulation layer/backpack support-Ridgerest sleeping pad cut down to body shape 6.0 11 gear moisture protection-plastic garbage compactor bag backpack liner 1.0 12 shelter/food hanging-Tarp stakes and 50 feet of synthetic twine 5.0 13 Luxury item-Pentax Optio W33 camera 5.0 14 Tools-Victorinox Classic knife, Toothbrush, Micro Led light all on a lanyard (string). It is impossible to lose such an arangement of articles tied together. Hilariously it is sometimes impossible to get them untangled as well. 1.0 15 Water treatment-Aqua Mira water treatment drops 2.0 16 Tools-Dental Floss and sewing needles 0.0 17 Footwear-Injinji toe socks 1 pair, 2 pair Smartwool low tops 3.0 18 Water storage-Aqua Fina Bottles to carry water 2.0 19 The lack of a stove is no mistake. I am going stoveless once again. Although I will be carrying a single plastic spoon for eating Nutella and Peanut butter. I will also be carrying a zip lock 20 oz plastic container in which to rehydrate my taters, oats, knorr sides etc. 1.0 20 Gloves.. To be determined. I found my fleece gloves to be impossible to put back on once they became wet. I am thinking of simply using my spare socks as mittens. I am considering sewing up some over mits out of momentum fabric or E vent material. Of course the extra long length of the Marmot windshirt's sleeves worked just fine on the CDT even in the snow.. I will just add 2 ounces for now. 2.0 21 Fire- 1-Light My Fire-Firesteel, 1- Micro bic lighter I may not be cooking and I don't often make campfires but the ability of being able to do so quickly is something I am not willing to surrender. 3.0 Sub-Totals: 8.2lbs

Nice to have you back after completing the CDT.My question is, how do you like the Injinji Toe Socks?Some folks I know swear by them, others say they feel weird on there feet.I would love to go back to ultra light, but carrying $13000 of camera gearhas me worried about protecting my investment, so I have to balance weightagainst adequate protection.

I loved the Injinji toe socks. I had 5 maildrops along the trail. in each were 2 lbs of maps, a new pair of tennis shoes, and 2 pair on injinji toe socks. I always wore either a cheap mens dress sock or a medium weight Smartwool sock over the top of my injinji's. I got between 250 and 500 miles per pair.I never had a problem with blisters but at this point my feet are pretty tough. The toe socks wick the moisture out from between my toes and prevent blisters from forming in warm weather.In the snow my feet would be wet all the time and I felt the injinjis kept my waterlogged skin from being abraded. I have also become a big fan of low top socks. The less material.. the less there is to dry out.One of the nice things about my MLD pack was the bungie lacing on the back. I would wash my socks at every opportunity and hang them to dry on the back of my pack while I hiked. This way i could keep my four pair of socks in rotation.

Hetchy,Good to hear from you again and glad you're coming to my (and B squared's) neck of the woods. A good forum like this one for the AT is whiteblaze.net.For the AT, expect a lot more rain/moisture than you get in the west (ok, Pac NW is about the same). Also, more chance of giardia out here than out west, so be careful of the water supply. For a good read, go to trailjournals.com and read CruiserDon's AT journal in 2009 (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=8879)

Thanks Tom! I am on whiteblaze. There is some great info there. I am currently sewing up some rain mittens for the very reason you mentioned. I got some micro fleece material (felt weight) for the liners, and some rip stop nylon for the shells. I found the fleece gloves I brought became useless if I took them off when they were wet for the simple reason I could not get them back on! Anyhow I am going to sew up these ultalight rain mitts and water proof them myself. The trick I learned on the CDT is to get some mineral spririts and clear silicone (oil based) from the hardware store in a town. Dilute 6 part spirits to 1 part silicone. Rub into the fabric with a foam brush. Wait a couple of hours and dust with corn starch. Vilola.. Silicone impregnated nylon! (I used this method to repair some leaky gear)Anyhow I am so excited to hike the AT. I am definitely preparing a wet weather strategy based on the massive rain I got in Montana this year. For the AT I am back to a poncho/umbrella/tarp system.

Thanks Eric! I met a lot of really great folks out there hiker and non-hiker alike. I even found a smaller twin sister to the Sierra Nevada; The Wind River Range of Wyoming.Cheers! The Wind River Range as seen from the Pole Creek Trail.